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Mar 7, 2016

Martin Misunderstood....Karin Slaughter...

This isn't my first Karin Slaughter book. My earlier tryst with her came from the less than impressive "Faithless". I found that one to be not upto my liking. However, I don't usually give up on an author just coz of one book, so when I stumbled across Martin Misunderstood, and found the back cover to be intriguing I picked it to read.

Its a rather slim book, less than 200 pages. Took me just over a day to finish. (blame my slow reading on 'other' responsibilities, NOT the book) Here's what the back cover says about it...

A darkly comic tale about Mr Less-Than-Average in an average world.Martin Reed is the proverbial butt of everyone’s jokes. Working as a glorified accountant at Southern Toilet Supply and still living with his cantankerous mother, he has become resigned to the world in which he lives — the school bullies now pick on him in the workplace, women still spurn him and his arch enemy is now his supervisor. So when he leaves home one morning to find his car bumper hanging right off, he thinks it’s nothing more than the usual pranks his toxic colleagues like to play on him.But everything soon conspires against Martin when he arrives at work to find the police on site, including a beautiful Dutch detective with a gold badge in one hand and a list of questions for Martin in the other. A co-worker has been brutally murdered and her body abandoned in a ditch. And the overwhelming evidence points to Martin – especially when he can’t or won’t admit that he has an alibi.When a second victim is found in the company bathroom, things really conspire against Martin. The one bright star on his otherwise bleak horizon is the beautiful and sympathetic Detective Anther Albada, but even she’s beginning to have her doubts about his innocence. Could Martin be guilty? Or is he just misunderstood?

This one is a cracker of a book. I can't really claim Ms. Slaughter has redeemed herself from the disappointing Faithless; but after reading this one, I believe I would pick up more of her stand alone books without hesitation.

Martin Misunderstood is a story of a below-average person who finds himself to be a murder suspect. Ms. Slaughter does a fine job of creating a character that demands sympathy and as we read ahead commands a sense of incredulity. Other characters in the story are equally unique. They make you feel a range of emotions for them, pity, misery, incredulity and sometimes even disgust. The story is rather flimsy and frankly a little creepy. And thus ends up making this an interesting read. When it finally ends, you are left feeling a little surreal.

If you are feeling down, and need a bit of upliftment, you can definitely give Martin Misunderstood a try. You might come out of it feeling rather good about yourself... :)